VIEW OF THE WORLD.

INDIA;

CONSISTING OF HINDOSTAN AND THE DECCAN.

CHAP. I.

THIS interesting portion of Asia extends from Cape Comorin, its southernmost promontory, in latitude 8° north,* to the mountainous borders of Thibet, on the north of Cashmire, in about 35° north latitude; and from the river Araba, in the west of the province of Sindi, in the 66th, to the mountains which divide Bengal from the Birman dominions in the 92d degree of east longitude, being in length, from north to south, about 1620, and in breadth from east to west, on a parallel of 26 degrees, about 1500 geographical miles. This extensive region is, according to the view exhibited by an eminent geographer, equal to at least one half of Europe.t

The description of this large portion of Asia is a subject of no small perplexity, on account of the irregular nature of its political system, and the great number of nations and powers, both native and foreign, among which it is divided. Since

*M. Rennell places Cape Comorin in eight degrees north. See his Map and Memoir, p. 21. He places Seringur, or Cashmire, in thirty-four degrees twenty minutes thirty-three seconds, by Achbur's measurement. The Oriental Tables place it in thirty-five degrees fifteen minutes lat. Memoir of Rennell's Map, p. 135.

+ Rennell's Pref. and Introduct. p. 1. and Mem. p. 232.

the decline of the Mogul empire, India has constantly presented a scene of political confusion. The revolutions of states, and the change of boundaries, have been so frequent, that its political subdivisions can furnish no perspicuous system of geographical arrangement. M. Rennell, in his excellent memoir of a map of Hindostan, which required ample discussion and minute details, after exhibiting a view of the coasts, describes the country under four great subdivisions: 1st, Gangetic Hindostan, or the countries pervaded by the Ganges, and its principal branches, as far west as Agra. 2d, Sindetic Hindostan, or the tract occupied by the Sind, or Indus, and its principal tributary rivers. 3d, the central part, or the countries situated between the Kistnah river and the two former divisions. And 4th, the peninsula south of the Kistnah.* In the present work, in which a concentrated brevity is an indispensable requisite, I shall content myself with exhibiting India under the two grand divisions which the situa tion seems to authorize, and which have always been recognised by the natives. These are, first, Hindostan; and, secondly, the Deccan, or southern country, improperly called the Peninsula. The river Nerbudda, as far as its course extends, is the reputed southern boundary of Hindostan Proper; and the southern frontiers of Bengal and Bahar compose the remainder. In a general view, the parallel of 21 or 22 degrees, may be regarded as the limits of the two divisions. Although the greatest part of India is subject to the Mahomedan foreigners, and to the English, the great mass of the population throughout the country is composed of native Hindoos, who can be considered as only one nation, a circumstance which tends to give an idea of unity, and renders subdivisions less

necessary.

India being considered under these two grand divisions, Hindostan will be found nearly equal in extent to France,

Rennell's Mem. p. 2.

† India is the name by which the whole of this vast region was known to the Greeks and the Romans. Hindostan seems to be a word of Persian origin, signifying the country of the Hindoos. Rennell's Introduct. p. 20. The ancient native name appears to be Medhyama. Asiatic Res. vol. 1. p. 419.

Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands, taken collectively; and the Deccan may be regarded as about equal to the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Spain, and European Turkey.*

HINDOSTAN.

Face of the country.]-The greatest part of Hindostan Proper consists of immense plains, watered, and a great part of them annually inundated by the Indus and the Ganges, or their auxiliary streams. From Hurdwar, in about 30 degrees north latitude, where the Ganges bursting through the frontier mountains, enters the plains of Hindostan, the whole country is an uniform level, allowing a descent, imperceptible to the eye, of about nine inches per mile, through an extent of about 800 miles in a direct line, to the south-easternmost parts of Bengal. This extensive plain gradually widens from the frontier, and in Bengal expands to at least 250 miles in breadth. The annual inundation in Bengal extends above 100 miles in breadth, nothing appearing but villages and trees, excepting very rarely the top of an elevated spot, the artificial mound of some deserted village appearing like an island. To the west of Bengal the country is diversified, and in some parts mountainous. The central province of Malway is the most elevated part of Hindostan. Agimere, including, among others, the provinces of Cheitore and Oudipour, consists of high mountains, divided by narrow valleys, or of plains environed by mountainous ridges, and accessible only by narrow passes and defiles, being by nature one of the strongest countries in the world. Its dimensions are adequate to the support of a numerous population, as, notwithstanding its mountainous aspect, it possesses a sufficient quantity of arable land, and enjoys a temperate climate, being situated between the 24th and 28th degree of latitude. The country of Agimere constitutes a phænomenon in the history of Hindostan. It has always

Rennell, ubi supra. The Nerbudda is considered as the boundary of the Deccan, by Orme as well as by Rennell. Orme's Hist. Frag. p. 5. † Rennell's Map. Rennell's Memoir, p. 349.

Se

been the celebrated seat of the Rajpoots, the warrior tribe among the Hindoos, which is noticed by ancient writers; and the antiquity of the house of the Rana, their chief prince, may be traced from Ptolemy. This district, though situated so near to the centre of the Mogul government, and succesively attacked by the Gaznavide, Patan, and Mogul emperors, has never been more than nominally reduced to subjection. veral of the fortresses, with which the country abounds, were indeed taken; but, as M. Rennell observes, "the spirits of independent nations do not reside in fortresses, nor are they to be conquered with them." Every war undertaken against these people, even by the great Aurengzebe, ended in a compromise, or defeat on the side of the assailants.* To the east and north-east of Agimere, the provinces of Agra and Delhi are rich and beautiful countries, variegated with a chain of hills and extensive valleys, stretching out in spacious and fertile plains towards the Ganges, and its tributary rivers. On the western side of Agimere is the great Sandy descrt, extending almost 550 miles in length from north-east to southwest, and from 100 to 150 in breadth. On the west of this is Sindetic Hindostan, or the countries pervaded by the Indus and its branches. This part of Hindostan, from the mouths of the Indus to the province of Mouttan, in about 30 degrees of north latitude, greatly resembles Egypt in its geographical features and aspect, the lower part extending into a wide delta, while the upper part is a narrow slip of country confined on the western side by ridges of mountains, and on the east by the sandy desert above-mentioned, which separates it from the provinces of Guzerat, Agimere, and Delhi. The Indus, winding through the whole length of this narrow valley, like the Nile through that of Egypt, completes the resemblance of the geographical picture. The provinces to the north of this tract, one of the principal of which is Lahore, present ridges of mountains and extensive plains, watered by the different branches of the Indus. The western parts of Guzerat are mountainous and woody. The provinces next to Persia are almost wholly unknown.

Rennell's Mem. p. 230, 231.

Mountains. Although the central parts of Hindostan, at a distance from the Indus and the Ganges, are in many places , mountainous, none of the mountains appear to be of any remarkable height. The mountains most celebrated among the Hindoos, are only visible from their country, to which they cannot be said to belong, being the grand chain of the Thibettian Alps, covered with perpetual snow. These mountains, which, from their snowy summits, are by the Hindoos called Himmala, a name of Sanscrit origin, appear to be one of the ridges of Immaus, mentioned by Ptolemy as running in a direction from east to west; while the other, which he describes as extending from north to south, is undoubtedly the Belur Tag of Russian and Tartarian geography. The ridge of Himmala is of a prodigious height, being visible at the distance of 150 miles, in the plains of Bengal. M. Rennell supposes them to be equal in point of elevation to any of the mountains of the old hemisphere. The southernmost ridge of the mountains of Bootan, which form the boundary of that country towards Hindostan, although much lower than that of Himmala, is a very elevated tract, rising nearly a mile and a half in perpendicular height above the plains of Bengal, in a horizontal distance of only fifteen miles. "From the summit," says M. Rennell," the astonished traveller looks back on the plains as on an extensive ocean beneath him." There are not many passes through this ridge, and all are fortified. It must be acknowledged, that there is no small degree of confusion in the most recent delineations of the mountains of India; but the same orological obscurity is observable in almost every country. No part of geography is so difficult to investigate as that of mountainous ranges, which are often inaccessible to the traveller; and geographers are frequently at a loss, not only for their extent and direction, but even for distinct appellations.

Rivers.]-Among the numerous rivers of Hindostan, and even of all India, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Burrampooter, are the chief. The Ganges, the sacred river of the Hindoos, and the vast Burrampooter, both proceed from the † Ibid. p. 302.

* Rennell's Mem. p. 302. 536.